4 comments:

Hersh’s report is almost entirely uncorroborated 3rd-hand info from an unnamed "retired official”. And the fourth point above that "US Navy Seal team that carried out the raid conveniently died in a helicopter crash a couple weeks later” is not mentioned at all in the Hersh article. What’s the source of that factoid?

The helicopter was shot down by insurgents in August 2011; many of those killed were part of the same Navy SEAL Team 6 unit that carried out the raid on Usama bin Laden's compound three months earlier.

Steve,a) Its hard to imagine that Pakistan Govt was unaware that Bin Laden lived in the compound.b) Chinook helicopters were able to go 200 km each way thru Pakistan air space without being detected. Undetected, jets yes; not helicopters.

So there is smoke, i.e. unanswered questions.

So I think a impartial outside investigation (it is an International Issue) such as the UNHCR maybe able to ferret out the truth.I will be holding my breath till that happens.

1) Hard to believe NO ONE in the Pakistani military knew he was there - hiding in plain sight?2) Chinook is a large double-rotored troop transport and cargo helicopter and only one was used as backup evacuation. The initial penetration to Abbottabad used radar-evading helicopters, possibly Blackhawks modified with stealth technology - one of which crashed and was destroyed on the ground.

Yeah, Hillhouse is somewhat of a nutcase with her purported intel background and thriller novels and self-promotion. She was definitely miffed that her original posts got no traction and now Sy Hersh is stealing the limelight. But to be fair he was a lot more thorough and assertive while she tossed off the story in a breezy post that just sounded like another conspiracy theory.

Just heard a radio interview with Hersh this evening on a show that offers critiques of the media - he is definitely getting skepticism and pushback from other journalists who wouldn’t have gone to print on such thin evidence and - as he admits it - no paper documentation at all.

One thing I haven’t heard mentioned was whether the book “No Easy Day” by SEAL team member Matt Bisonnette was a complete put-up job by the US govt - which Hersh’s account would imply. If his book was just a fabrication to reinforce the govt account then it’s curious they’d take it as far as subsequently revoking his security clearance and garnishing the proceeds from the book. Apparently he’s now suing his lawyers who told him he’d be able to get away with it: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/1106/Navy-SEAL-who-wrote-book-about-the-bin-Laden-raid-loses-4.5-million